Chapter 0914: The Land of Broken Laws
The pressure from Man Huishan’s spiritual consciousness kept growing with each pa.s.sing moment. In just a few moments, Ning Cheng started to feel that even the flow of his spirit essence had turned sluggish. Luckily, the Land of Broken Laws was close at hand.
He burned his essence blood again and pushed the Starry Sky Wheel towards the edge of the Land of Broken Laws. Then, the moment the Starry Sky Wheel reached the border, he immediately switched to the top-grade starry sky battleship and rushed inside. However, the moment the top-grade starry sky battleship rushed into the Land of Broken Laws, a huge hand appeared in the void just behind it. It ripped apart a significant portion of the top-grade starry sky battleship’s tail.
But even if it lost a significant portion of its tail section, the battleship still quickly rushed into the Land of Broken Laws.
Ning Cheng’s expressions had turned a little grave. He had come extremely close to getting caught by Man Huishan. Moreover, since the starship suffered some damage, it also caused its speed to fall. What’s more, Ning Cheng observed that after Man Huishan had put away his flight-type weapon, his speed almost matched the speed of his damaged starship.
On the other hand, looking at the starship quickly disappearing into the Land of Broken Laws, Man Huishan’s face turned blue with anger. He put away his flight-type weapon and closely followed it, also rushing into the Land of Broken Laws.
Ning Cheng, meanwhile, focussed his energies on repairing his starship. He had already noticed that Man Huishan didn’t use any flight-type weapon or technique. Instead, he simply ran towards him like a crazy person. Yet, even in that case, Man Huishan’s speed wasn’t any lower than that of his starship.
Ning Cheng sucked in a deep breath. Fortunately, he had a top-grade starry sky battleship. Otherwise, even if he ran at full speed in this place, it would be akin to a snail’s pace in front of Man Huishan.
Man Huishan also never expected that Ning Cheng would have prepared a top-grade starry sky battleship beforehand. An object he would have scoffed at, at any other time. However, in the Land of Broken Laws, this top-grade starship had become Ning Cheng’s only chance of escape.
But despite the situation, Man Huishan wasn’t too worried that Ning Cheng would manage to escape from him. Although in unfamiliar territory, his speed kept gradually increasing while the pace of Ning Cheng’s starship kept decreasing progressively. If this kept on, sooner or later, he would catch up to Ning Cheng.
Unfortunately, he had not reached Dao Perfection. Otherwise, even in the Land of Broken Laws, his Grand Void Handprint could have easily picked up Ning Cheng.
Currently, he could only catch Ning Cheng by fully exerting himself and chasing Ning Cheng down.
However, Man Huishan quickly felt something was wrong with the situation. He noticed that the starship, whose speed had been dropping till now, had now gradually started to speed up.
Was he repairing the starship? Man Huishan felt so angry that he almost vomited blood. He couldn’t figure out why a cultivator would stoop so low and learn something as disgraceful as technology. However, Ning Cheng knowing about technological products wasn’t the most shocking to him. What shocked him the most was that Ning Cheng could even repair starry sky battleships quickly.
Of course, Ning Cheng could repair the broken starship. He not only could repair starry sky battleships, but he also possessed a spirit flame. As such, he managed to quickly restore the missing areas of the starry sky battleship as fast as possible.
As Ning Cheng continued with the repairs, the star ship’s speed also gradually began to improve. Seeing the starship pulling father away and leaving Man Huishan behind, Ning Cheng finally breathed in a sigh of relief. Only now did he have the chance to feel the situation around him.
However, a moment later, a very uncomfortable thought emerged in his mind. As Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness swept out, it could only sweep out a distance of a dozen meters around him. He subconsciously tried to condense an essence handprint. However, he discovered that the essence handprint could only retain its form within the range of his spiritual consciousness. The moment it went beyond, the handprint collapsed as if it never existed.
Raising his hand again to perform a s.p.a.cial bending, he found that he couldn’t form a s.p.a.cial pocket that belonged to him at all. It meant that his understanding of the Laws of s.p.a.ce wasn’t of any use in this place.
Ning Cheng then tried to use the Laws of Time but still got the same outcome.
He took out his long spear from his storage ring and cast a few spear patterns. But they disappeared the moment they formed. In other words, he couldn’t even use any of them for defence.
Ning Cheng sighed. The Land of Broken Laws truly was a land devoid of laws. All his spirit techniques became practically useless in this place, and even his spiritual consciousness could only stretch out a few feet around him. Fortunately, he had a Starry Sky Sea of Consciousness. He had also consumed Empyrean Consciousness Trans.m.u.tation Pills for cultivation, significantly improving his spiritual consciousness’s strength. Otherwise, he couldn’t have even stretched out his spiritual consciousness out of his body.
Ning Cheng decided not to continue to try out all the spirit techniques he knew. In any case, since he couldn’t use his spirit techniques, Man Huishan also wouldn’t fare any better, even if he was countless times stronger. If Man Huishan could use law-related spirit techniques in this place, he would have already captured him by now.
At this time, Ning Cheng only focussed on controlling the starry sky battleship to escape as far as possible. As such, he didn’t even think if the star ship’s Radium Light Cannons could cause any damage to Man Huishan. If Ning Cheng had thought about it, he might have even turned around to test it with a few rounds.
Only after flying for several days at full speed did Ning Cheng finally stop. Man Huishan had long since disappeared by now, which meant that he no longer had to run away at full speed. Since this place restricted and suppressed one’s spiritual consciousness, it also meant that Man Huishan would have a hard time tracking him down in this place.
Besides, the starry sky battleship also needed many Permanent Essence Pills or spirit crystals to power it. He could use Permanent Essence Pills, but at the rate this starship burned through Permanent Essence Pills, his stash wouldn’t last for long. Moreover, although this starry sky battleship utilised artefact-crafting methods, it was still a pure technological product. It meant he couldn’t use spirit essence to power it.
Ning Cheng still had some spirit crystals on him, but he didn’t know how long he would have to hide within the Land of Broken Laws. As such, he had to ration the use of spirit crystals. In any case, apart from Guo Haoge’s ring, which he hadn’t opened yet, he didn’t have many spirit crystals on him. At max, Ning Cheng had roughly 30 million spirit crystals. Although it seemed like a lot, they would still drain quickly, considering his rate of consumption.
As for leaving the Land of Broken Laws or even cultivating here, Ning Cheng gave up on the thought for now. He knew very well that Man Huishan wouldn’t let him off easily. In any case, at his level, using Permanent Essence Pills or even intact high-grade Starry Sky Spirit Veins would barely have any effect on him.
……
Rumours had started to fly about when the rogue cultivator Ji He did not come out of the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring even after the five-year limit pa.s.sed. Ji He had killed Guo Haoge, the sacred child of River Luo Sacred Sect. The rogue cultivator Ji He might have also killed Dragon Emperor Man Huishan’s son, Man Jiuren. There were even rumours that Ji He had taken out pills beneficial for spiritual consciousness. Some even suspected that they were the long-lost and now legendary Spirit Essence Pills. Ji He had even hidden his strength to unleash it later and defeated Lu Yixian at the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring. As a result, Ji He occupied the premier spirit spring within the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring……
Whether it was the truth or exaggeration, it made many experts want to catch that rogue cultivator named Ji He. They all spent considerable effort to uncover Ji He’s background and original appearance. Everyone wanted to confirm what Man Huishan said during the great meet: Ji He wasn’t Ji He, but another cultivator in disguise. Of course, all of this was just a ruse. Everyone wanted to capture Ji He not to confirm those things, but primarily because of the Spirit Essence Pills.
Initially, some people and sects still felt a bit apprehensive about Profound Moon Spirit Gate’s involvement. After all, Ji He and Profound Moon Spirit Gate’s Qi Shisanxing were good friends.
However, news soon emerged that Qi Shisanxing had gone into seclusion. So more people arrived to capture Ji He with the already existing blockade outside the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring. Yet, even in that case, no one from Profound Moon Spirit Gate came out to speak.
It was already the eighth year since the end of the Grand Essence Great Meet. Yet, no one heard any news about the rogue cultivator named Ji He. But at the same time, no one heard anything about Man Huishan either, supposedly the one with the greatest hatred for Ji He.
Recently, however, rumours emerged that someone saw the Dragon Emperor, Man Huishan, chasing Ji He into the Land of Broken Laws two years ago. Once this ‘news’ emerged, the people keeping an eye on the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring’s teleportation formation gradually dwindled.
After hearing that Ji He had gone to the Land of Broken Laws, many people gave up the idea of trying to intercept Ji He. It no longer mattered if Ji He had a secret on him or not. Even the best positional diagram or directional disc would become useless in the Land of Broken Laws. Many Dao Confirming experts had gone there to try exploring it in the past but had ended up losing their way inside before finally falling.
Since Ji He had rushed into the Land of Broken Laws, not even a miracle would help him survive in that place, let alone come out.
……
In the 9-Revolving Sacred Dao Pond’s mission hall, Yan Ji came in to hand in her mission, looking somewhat exhausted.
It had been two years since she joined the 9-Revolving Sacred Dao Pond. During these two years, she continued doing missions. Her qualifications were considered one of the best in the sect. Yet, she kept chasing after improvement like a deranged person after a specific goal, just like she did before she joined the sect.
She also kept consuming resources without even thinking of their quality and after-effects. For her, as long as something could improve her strength by even a little, she would consume it without hesitation. Unfortunately, that way of living had ended up damaging her foundation even before joining the sect.
It also felt surprising that she could join the 9-Revolving Sacred Dao Pond with her damaged foundation.
“Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji, you’ve only been in the sect for two years. Yet, you’ve barely even stayed inside the sect during these two years. I don’t think it’s a sustainable way of living.” A slightly soft voice rang out in Yan Ji’s ears.
Yan Ji turned around to see a young girl with yellow hair and quickly greeted her. “Yan Ji greets Senior Apprentice Sister Shulan. Since I joined the sect late, I can only work harder to catch up with everyone.”
Yan Ji had a reason for taking up missions that kept her outside the sect. Apart from looking for cultivation resources, she also wanted to inquire about Ning Cheng.
“Well, you should pay a bit more attention to yourself. Don’t work so hard that you end up damaging your foundations even more. Otherwise, you’ll lose all your progress till now.” This yellow-haired girl seemed to have a soft spot towards Yan Ji.
“I understand. Many thanks for the reminder, Senior Apprentice Sister Shulan.” Yan Ji had just responded when she suddenly saw the yellow-haired girl stepping to one side and bowing to a dark-haired woman who had just walked over. “Shulan greets Senior Apprentice Sister Shui.”
Yan Ji also recognised this woman who had come over. She was none other than 9-Revolving Sacred Dao Pond’s genius, Shui Yueke. At the last Grand Essence Great Meet, she had entered the top ten and even went to the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring.
Recognising Shui Yueke, Yan Ji quickly bowed and paid her respects as well, “Yan Ji greets Senior Apprentice Sister Shui.”
Shui Yueke simply nodded at the two and walked past them without replying.
Seeing Shui Yueke walk past them, the yellow-haired girl called Shulan breathed out a sigh of relief. She then turned to Yan Ji and said, “Sister Yan Ji, Senior Apprentice Sister Shui’s strength doesn’t lose out to the Grand Essence’s 12 Sacred Children. Even if counted among the Grand Essence’s 12 Sacred Children, she would easily rank within the top half. It’s just that Senior Apprentice Sister Shui doesn’t like to show off her strength. If it weren’t for going to the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring, Senior Apprentice Sister Shui wouldn’t have even partic.i.p.ated in the Grand Essence Great Meet.”
Yan Ji nodded, “I’ve also heard about it. I heard that in the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring, Senior Apprentice Sister Shui occupied the sixth stone door. This position puts her above both Ji Pingzhong of the Desolate Spirit Palace and Profound Aquatic Palace’s Zhongmeng Yuxiu.”
The yellow-haired girl showed a faint smile, “Actually, it’s all thanks to that rogue cultivator called Ji He. That Ji He truly was a ruthless and oppressive person. He killed Guo Haoge and forced Ji Pingzhong to pick the tenth stone gate. Otherwise, even with Senior Apprentice Sister Shui’s strength at that time, she couldn’t have secured the sixth stone door.”
“Ah, weren’t there rumours that Ji He was a fake?” Yan Ji had also inquired about Ji He, who had appeared about the same time Ning Cheng disappeared. She even suspected that Ji He might be Ning Cheng in disguise. But because she couldn’t meet Qi Shisanxing, she could only speculate about it without concrete proof.
The yellow-haired girl replied with a whisper, “There’s no doubt that Ji He is a fake. I heard that he was also the one who killed Man Jiuren. Moreover, to avenge his son, Dragon Emperor Man Huishan even chased Ji He into the Land of Broken Laws.”
“The Dragon Emperor Man Huishan chased Ji He to the Land of Broken Laws?” Yan Ji repeated the words with a shiver.
She suddenly thought of the rumours she had heard in the Grand Essence Ruins, that Man Huishan had waited in the Grand Essence Ruins to capture Ning Cheng. And now, Man Huishan has chased Ji He into the Land of Broken Laws. Ji He was a fake; it was a fact already established. But his appearance roughly coincided with when Ning Cheng disappeared. Could this Ji He be Ning Cheng?
If that wasn’t the case, why would a powerhouse like Man Huishan suddenly change his mind and chase after Ji He?